No. 12 Women’s Squash Opens Up CSA Team Nationals Against George Washington Friday

NEW YORK - The No. 12 Columbia women's squash team will head
to New Haven, Conn. this weekend to compete in the 2013 College Squash
Association National Team Championships hosted by Yale. Competing in the Kurtz
Cup (B Division), the Lions will open the tournament against George Washington
on Friday, Feb. 15 at 1:30 p.m.

Matches will be played at Yale's Brady Squash Center and the
Hopkins School. Please read this CSA article for more information on parking,
dining and accommodations.

This will be the second meeting of the season between
Columbia and GW in New Haven, Conn. The squads met in a neutral site matchup on
Jan. 19 with the Lions posting a convincing 8-1 victory over the Colonials. The
Lions recorded sweeps in six of the matches that day.

Columbia and GW have met three times since the Lions program
earned varsity status three seasons ago. During the 2010-11 season, the teams
went head-to-head twice, with each winning once. The Colonials become the first
team to fall to the Lions as a varsity program, losing 6-3 in Washington, D.C.
on Nov. 20, 2010. GW exacted revenge on the Lions in the Kurtz Cup that season,
downing the Lions in the consolation bracket 5-4.

If Columbia gets past GW in the first round, the Lions will
meet the winner of the Dartmouth/Amherst matchup on Saturday. The Big Green is
ranked ninth nationally and holds the top seed in the Kurtz Cup. The other half
of the bracket features Middlebury taking on Franklin & Marshall and Bates
versus Williams.

During the regular season, Columbia went 2-3 against teams
in the Kurtz Cup. The Lions have wins this year over GW and F&M, but fell
to Dartmouth, Middlebury and Williams.

Columbia finished last season's CSA Team Nationals with a
consolation finals victory over Mt. Holyoke. After an opening round loss to
Williams, the Lions downed F&M and Mt. Holyoke to finish the season ranked
13th on the season.